[ rock music plays on radio ] this is jim ladd of klos. we interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special bulletin. rock music fans all over the world are in mourning today. jim morrison, lead singer of the doors, was found dead in his paris apartment this morning. french authorities attribute the cause of death to a heart attack. morrison was 27 years old. goodbye, jim. we'll miss you. [ engine races ]

jim morrison was buried today in pere lachaise cemetery in paris. the coffin was sealed, and only his girlfriend, pamela courson, and the doors' manager were in attendance.

with his passing, the future of the doors remains uncertain. i'm jim ladd on 95.5 klos, and i'll be here all night as we pay tribute to one of america's most original and influential... depp: the sixties begin with a shot. [ gunshot ] the civil rights movement intensifies. the war in vietnam gets bigger and bldier.

man: president johnson, meanwhile, let it be known that the fbi is closely watching all anti-war activity. depp: the youth movement catches fire, making everyone over 30 a cultural enemy. the days of ricky nelson and "leave it to beaver" are over. i have nothing against kissing. but these friends of yours, penny, they want to kiss you all night. depp: the establishment resists, but a genuine counter-culture is growing. for some, psychedelics like lsd open the doors of perception. the doors: ♪ the gate is straight ♪ deep and wide, break on through ♪ depp: a massive cultural earthquake is splitting the country wide open. and out of the crack steps a band called the doors.

man: name? robby krieger. age? 22 years old. occupation? guitar. name? john densmore. age? 23. occupation? percussionist. name? raymond daniel manzarek. age? born 2/12/39. occupation? musician, organist. name? uh, jim. occupation? um... depp: jim morrison is the oldest son of a decorated navy officer. at 16, he's already reading nietzsche, rimbaud, and william blake. he's also obsessed with elvis presley. one teacher sends home a note scolding him as "self-centered." he goes to three colleges before attending the film school at ucla.

one of his friends there is ray manzarek, who's also playing keyboards in his brother's surf band, rick & the ravens. ray started with classical piano but quickly turned on to jazz and chicago blues. jim, too, had an affinity for the blues. they shared a common interest in cinema. they were also dropping acid several times a month. jim makes one film at ucla. it earns him a "d." he skips his graduation and tells ray he's moving to new york city. but a few months later, ray runs into jim at the beach in venice. he's been living on someone's roof and writing songs for a rock concert he hears in his head. ray asks him to sing one. jim hesitates. then he sings "moonlight drive." ♪ let's swim to the moon, uh-huh ♪

♪ let's climb through the tide depp: ray is impressed by the poetry of his lyrics. they decide to start a band. jim's already chosen a name from a poem by william blake. "if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite." jim moves in with ray and his girlfriend, dorothy fujikawa. ray invites someone from his meditation class to come jam with them. john densmore brings his friend, robby krieger. jim loves his bottleneck slide so much, he wants to use it on every song. ♪ they're going to destroy depp: robby and john like his lyrics more than his voice, but something about their lead singer pulls them in.

in the summer of 1965, "the doors" are born. jim had never sung before. robby had only been playing electric guitar for six months. ♪ yeah! depp: his original training was on acoustic -- spanish flamenco. he'd played in one rock band, with densmore, when they were both in high school. john had morphed from a high school marching band to a certified jazz freak into coltrane and mingus. ray rents a house, and the band rehearses there all summer. jim says they need more songs and tells everyone to write one over the weekend. only robby does his homework. the first song he writes is called "light my fire."

♪ know that it will be untrue ♪ know that i would be a liar ♪ ♪ if i was to say to you ♪ girl, we couldn't get much higher ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ try to set the night on fire ♪ time to hesitate is through ♪ no time to wallow in the mire ♪ ♪ try now, we can only lose ♪ and our love become a funeral pyre ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire

♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ depp: the doors get their first gig at a dive in l.a. called the london fog. ♪ fire! depp: still unsure of himself, jim turns his back to the audience, facing the band, like he does in rehearsal. the talent booker for the whisky a go go comes in one night. she falls for morrison and convinces her boss to hire the doors as the whisky's house band. in late 1966, they're opening for the turtles, buffalo springfield, and van morrison. word spreads, especially about the lead singer. jac holzman, founder of elektra records, is so impressed, he offers them a three-album deal. the next night, jim doesn't show up at the whisky. john and ray head over to the motel he's crashing at

and find him out of his mind on acid. when they get him back to the whisky, jim wants to play "the end," a song he wrote about breaking up with his high-school girlfriend. ♪ the killer awoke before dawn ♪ he put his boots on ♪ he took a face from the ancient gallery and he ♪ ♪ he walked on down the hallway, baby ♪ ♪ came to a door ♪ and he looked inside depp: no one in the band knows where he's going. ♪ father? ♪ yes, son?

♪ i want to kill you ♪ mother... ♪ i want to... ♪ [bleep], [bleep], [bleep] you all night, baby ♪ ♪ [bleep] you, mama, all night long ♪ ♪ you wait, mama ♪ gonna love you, baby, all night, yeah ♪ depp: the whisky's owner calls jim a "sick bastard" and fires them. a few weeks later, the doors record their first album in five days. holzman brings in veteran producer paul rothchild. the equipment he uses is state-of-the-art --

a four-track recorder. he lays down john's drums on one track. ray's organ and robby's guitar take up the second. the third goes to jim's vocal, leaving the fourth for all overdubs. ♪ we chased our pleasures here depp: "light my fire" and "the end" are over seven minutes long. both are recorded in two takes. at jim's insistence, all songs are credited simply to "the doors." to promote the album, holzman buys a billboard on the sunset strip. no one has done this before. "break on through" is their first single. it stalls at number 106. [ needle scratches record ] holzman shifts quickly to "light my fire." rothchild cuts the instrumentals, and the song hits the a.m. airwaves. in july of 1967,

the first song robby krieger ever wrote climbs to number one in the country. ray and dorothy hear it on their car radio and start screaming. the first royalty checks give the doors $50,000 apiece. morrison's family is oblivious until a friend of his younger brother comes over with the album. he thought the guy on the cover looked a little like jim. the family is further surprised when they see how jim has described them in his bio. holzman sends the doors to new york city. they're an immediate hit. andy warhol becomes infatuated, particularly with morrison. then, like the beatles and rolling stones before them, they perform live on "the ed sullivan show." now the doors. here they are with their newest hit record, "light my fire."

♪ time to hesitate is through ♪ no time to wallow in the mire ♪ ♪ try now, we can only lose ♪ and our live become a funeral pyre ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ try to set the night on fire ♪ depp: sullivan asks the doors to take out the word "higher" because of its drug implications. they agree. during the performance, jim sings the song exactly as written. ♪ girl, we couldn't get much higher ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ ♪ come on, baby, light my fire ♪ try to set the night on fire ♪ try to set the night on fire ♪

♪ try to set the night on fire ♪ try to set the night on fire ♪ depp: it's been barely a year since their shy young singer couldn't even face his audience. now, the metamorphosis is complete. [ service bell rings ] need a match?

ladd: french officials deny any evidence of drug overdose, but a cloud of mystery hangs over morrison's death. some claim he's still alive and that his death was just a hoax, perhaps planned by morrison himself. numerous sightings of the singer have already been reported. no, the mood i get from most of it is a kind of a heavy... kind of a sort of gloomy feeling, you know, like of someone not quite at home or, you know, or not quite... not quite relaxed, and... you know, aware of a lot of things but not quite

sure about anything, you know? ♪ people are strange when you're a stranger ♪ ♪ faces look ugly ♪ when you're alone ♪ women seem wicked when you're unwanted ♪ ♪ streets are uneven when you're down ♪ ♪ when you're strange ♪ faces come out of the rain ♪ when you're strange ♪ no one remembers your name ♪ when you're strange ♪ when you're strange ♪ when you're strange ♪ people are strange when you're a stranger ♪ depp: the fact is, the music is strange. ♪ when you're alone depp: it is music for the different, the uninvited. it carries the listener into the shadowy realm of dream.

part of the strangeness comes from their lack of a bass player. this leaves densmore to hold the beat. but his jazz sensibility keeps it both tight and unpredictable. ♪ faces come out of the rain ♪ when you're strange depp: krieger's flamenco influences bring another layer of mystery. he never uses a pick, playing rhythm and lead with his fingernails. but the sound needs a bottom. manzarek discovers an electric piano bass and plays the bass line with his left hand. he uses his right for chords and his bach-tinged blues runs. ♪ when you're strange, faces come out of the rain ♪ ♪ when you're strange, no one remembers ♪ depp: the organ carries a hint of the carnival -- both childlike and darkly disturbing.

it's no accident their second album, "strange days," features circus performers on its cover. ♪ people are strange when you're a stranger ♪ ♪ faces look ugly when you're alone ♪ ♪ women seem wicked when you're unwanted ♪ ♪ streets are uneven when you're down ♪ depp: but if the band has a surreal fairground air, it is morrison who is the frenzied trapeze artist. hey, yeah! come on! woo! ♪ love me two times, baby ♪ love me twice today

♪ love me two times, girl ♪ i'm goin' away ♪ love me two times, girl ♪ one for tomorrow ♪ one just for today ♪ love me two times ♪ i'm goin' away depp: to ray, he's like an ancient shaman, leading his followers into worlds they'd never dare enter alone. ♪ i could not speak ♪ love me one time ♪ yeah, my knees got weak ♪ love me two times, girl ♪ last me all through the week ♪ ♪ love me two times ♪ i'm goin' away

♪ love me two times ♪ i'm goin' away ♪ all right, yeah! depp: morrison is both innocent and profane. he's a rock and roll poet, dangerous and highly intelligent. no one has had this exact combination before. ♪ yeah, yeah! ♪ come on, baby! ♪ love me one time ♪ i could not speak ♪ love me one time, baby ♪ yeah, my knees got weak ♪ love me two times, girl ♪ last me all through the week ♪ ♪ love me two times

♪ i'm goin' away depp: no matter how high he flies, his bandmates are always there to catch him and guide him back to earth. ♪ love me two times, baby ♪ 'cause i'm goin' away ♪ love me two times, girl ♪ one for tomorrow ♪ one just for today ♪ love me two times, i'm goin' away ♪ ♪ love me two times woman: i love you! ♪ i'm goin' away ♪ love me two times, i'm goin' away ♪ woman: jim! [ screams ]

depp: their first hit of fame is sudden and intense. [ screaming ] woman: i even like them more than the beatles. the doors, they are so much better! man: do you think you're a political group? we're, um... foremost, we're, um... musicians and writers. woman: no, you can't take a lit cigarette. sorry. man: i'll see how i feel after a beer. man: you want people to like you? well, i'd like them to listen. i'd like them to... give the music a chance, and... just to listen. the music can't help but reflecting things

that are happening around you. [ siren wails ] i think for your own sake, while all the police are out there containing the kids, you ought to get in the car and split. i really do. unless he wants to get... yeah, i mean, it's up to him. it's up to him, unless he wants to... have them grab at his body. if he doesn't want it, i'll take it. and todd...and bill and todd will take the leftovers. aloha. morrison: i've noticed that when people are joking, they're usually dead serious. and when they're dead serious, it's usually pretty funny. man: you should say that at a concert. is your band like the monkees?

the monkees? i said like the monkees. well, i, uh -- i... all of our music is really so symbolic rather than direct to the point, you know, like... everybody's always talking about rock and roll and jazz finally blending, you know? and i don't think that can really happen, but... if it's supposed to, i think we're it. [ screaming ] man: okay, this time, can you look to me, please? women: i want to touch the doors. hey, quit knocking on the door. hey! can you get jim out? come on, just take one picture. we paid to be here! depp: most of the attention goes to jim. if it bothers robby, ray, or john,

they don't outwardly show it. but jim relishes the attention. he seems to have been born instantly ready for fame. [ crowd cheers ] everything he does seems either brilliant or brilliantly calculated for effect. i think, you know, these days, especially in the states, you have to be a politician or an assassin or something to really be a superstar. depp: without a personal manager or publicist, jim takes control of his own image. he picks out all his clothes, from the conch belts to the leather pants seemingly designed to accentuate his crotch. woman: jim!

hi! hi, jim! we've got to go to the rest... the dressing room, right? man: all right, man. okay, we're going to go to the dressing room now. man: wait a while, don't get out yet. depp: he understood exactly how to make it all work for him, and perhaps to protect himself, he made it seem like he couldn't care less. in 1968, the who opened for the doors at the singer bowl on long island.

how much are these? $1.00. can i look at it first to see what i want? i've got one. how much are those? $1.00 $1.00? depp: it's hard to tell if he's simply mingling with his fans or if he's drawing something crucial from them, as if he needs their attention to survive. man: make sure that the doors know that new york collectively welcomes them to the singer bowl. the doors! the doors! depp: the singer bowl crowd is already worked up. morrison stokes them further. ♪ no one here gets out alive

♪ you get yours, mama, i'll get mine ♪ ♪ going to make it, baby, come on! ♪ depp: someone throws a chair. [ whistle blows ] everybody feel all right? man: the show is over, kids, so go on home. yes, please go home. woman: give him a hand and help him if she's too heavy. stay where you are. no, she's -- she was just an innocent bystander. that became a victim. someone whacked her with a chair. man: why'd they whack her with a chair? i don't know. are you sure it was a chair? i don't know what it was. someone hit me, i fell, and i wound up here. where did they get a chair? there weren't any chairs. i don't know. depp: earlier in the concert,

jeff silverman is taking pictures in the front row. he sees jim look directly at a young girl and grab his crotch. her boyfriend picks up a chair. according to silverman, it was the first chair to be thrown. it's already coagulating. i think you're going to be okay. woman: why are you doing that? come here! ♪ i am the lizard king ♪ i can do anything depp: morrison's poem, "the celebration of the lizard," was to take up one whole side of the doors' next album, but paul rothchild chooses not to include it. jim's behavior is becoming unpredictable, and rothchild is under pressure to get another record out while the band is hot. he fills out the side with unused songs from their first album. despite the raw intensity of new songs

like "five to one" and "unknown soldier"... critics dismiss the record. but fans judge it differently. both the album and morrison's "hello, i love you" hit number one. [ unintelligible shouting ] something like that. man: don't over blow, jim. you got a long way to go. why not? depp: in 1968, the doors begin recording "the soft parade." paul rothchild produces, with bruce botnick as his engineer. ♪ we don't matter why depp: jim has begun coming into the studio drunk or high.

robby writes half the songs on "soft parade," and for the first time, he and jim separate their writing credits. [ mumbling ] in africa... well, you know what robby's trying to do, that sound. yeah, i know that. manzarek: stupidest ending i've ever heard on any song. what's stupid, the ending? yeah. yeah, just... how's that again? okay, robby does two, john one, i do two, and then you come in. man: that sounds good, robby. here we go. one time, everybody, please. ♪ wild child

♪ full of grace ♪ savior of the human race ♪ your cool face ♪ natural child ♪ terrible child ♪ not your mother's or your father's child, you're ♪ ♪ our child ♪ screaming wild

morrison: do you know the warm progress under the stars? do you know we exist? have you forgotten the keys to the kingdom? have you been born yet, and are you alive? ♪ successful heels are here to stay ♪ ♪ everything must be this way depp: the youth movement keeps growing. ♪ where people play so like i was telling you, honey, before these cameramen came along, death in our time...

yes? oh, man, i don't know. depp: and by 1968, the country was radically changed. and i pledge, if you give me your help, if you give me your hand, that i will work with you and we will have a new america. thank you very much. depp: ray originally thought lsd was the key to enlightenment. but a series of bad trips sends him in a different direction. he turned to meditation, along with robby and john, attempting to find his bliss elsewhere. morrison keeps tripping for a while. ♪ yeah!

♪ when the music's over ♪ when the music's over, yeah ♪ when the music's over, turn out the light ♪ ♪ turn out the light ♪ turn out the light ♪ well, the music is your special friend ♪ ♪ dance on fire as it intends ♪ ♪ music is your only friend ♪ until the end ♪ until the end

♪ until the end yeah! depp: jim still has doubts about his voice. he's had no musical training and he can't read a note.

sinatra has replaced elvis as his favorite singer. he describes his own voice as a scream or "a sick croon." ♪ cancel my subscription to the resurrection ♪ ♪ send my credentials to the house of detention ♪ ♪ i've got some friends depp: morrison takes a hard turn from psychedelics to booze. "soft parade" takes 11 months to record. this is partly due to rothchild's insistence on perfection. he makes the band do hundreds of takes. but no one talks about the elephant in the room.

densmore develops headaches and breaks out in rashes from the tension. one day, john walks out of the studio, saying he can't take it anymore. the next morning, he shows up, and the band continues recording without a word. ♪ gonna win, yeah, we're takin' over ♪ ♪ come on! depp: sometimes the drinking helps morrison. ♪ ow! depp: sometimes it doesn't. ♪ oh! depp: the band becomes adept at keeping him alive onstage. ♪ ah! ♪ no, no, no

♪ i will miss you so depp: his first onstage arrest had come early, in new haven, connecticut. before the concert, jim is making out with a girl in a shower stall backstage. a cop walks in on them. not recognizing jim, he orders them out. jim tells him to go [bleep] himself. the cop maces him. [ morrison screams ] depp: minutes before the show, jim is in agony. his eyes are still bloodshot and streaming with tears. in the middle of the first song, he stops and tells the audience what has just happened to him. jim keeps calling the cop "a little blue man in a little blue suit with a little blue cap." when the police move in, jim offers them a chance to "say their thing."

they choose not to. jim is arrested for breach of peace and immoral exhibition. [ crowd chanting ] two cops punch him in the face and kick him when he falls. this starts the reputation of the doors as a dirty and dangerous band. ♪ yeah! depp: it also marks a change between the doors and their audience. they're coming now to watch morrison go crazy. there is a growing sense that the fans are not there to hear the music, but to witness a spectacle. it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between himself and the person who appears onstage.

but the train keeps picking up speed, and no one wants off. in april 1968, the village voice chooses morrison as vocalist of the year. the doors win best band, and ray manzarek is best musician after eric clapton and ravi shankar. "the soft parade" goes gold, making four gold albums in a row. "touch me," written by krieger, gives the band their third top-ten single. ♪ come on, come on, come on, come on, now, touch me, babe ♪ ♪ can't you see that i am not afraid ♪ ♪ what was that promise that you made? ♪ ♪ why won't you tell me what she said? ♪ ♪ what was that promise that you made? ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you

♪ till the heavens stop the rain ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you ♪ till the stars fall from the sky ♪ depp: by late december 1968, the doors are being hailed as america's rolling stones. [ cheers and applause ] and just at that moment, jim announces he's quitting. the band is stunned. without jim, there is no "doors." manzarek: we need you to stay in the game. well, the thing is, i don't think i like the game. [ crowd screaming ]

depp: his girlfriend, pam courson, encourages him to forget music and concentrate on his poetry. jim's already self-published two notebooks of his poems, both dedicated to her. his poetry is symbolic and pure. it frees him from the requirements of rock stardom. morrison: yeah, posing for a picture, can you imagine? you know, and really looking in the camera and really posing? it's insane! i must have been out of my mind! depp: but getting out is not as easy as it seems. ray convinces him to give it six more months. but as his drinking increases, ray sees it give birth to morrison's alter ego, whom he names "jimbo."

everyone dreads his appearance. out of concern for his health and the future of the band, they finally confront him directly. jim listens politely. he stays sober for about a week. then jimbo returns. ♪ yeah! ♪ a-ha-ha! [ screams ] depp: the band hires a series of professional drinkers

to keep tabs on morrison. they can't keep up with him. morrison: you got any groovy [bleep] in this joint? any lsd? depp: at a party in l.a., he ends up with his face in janis joplin's lap. she breaks down in tears, and then cracks a whiskey bottle over his head. pam gets tired of jim's drunken infidelities. she convinces him to see a psychiatrist. jim goes to one session. he's moving further away from his family. when his mother comes to watch the doors in washington, d.c., jim does not see her. he hasn't spoken to his father since 1966, when he got a letter from him with the advice "to give up any idea of singing "or any connection with a musical group "because of what i consider a complete lack of talent in this direction." at the height of his son's fame,

admiral morrison is commanding a division of aircraft carriers off the coast of vietnam. in his world, survival depends on obedience. to jim, obedience is suicide. morrison: would anybody like to see my genitals? i don't think there should be a president, man. i think it should be a total democracy, man. but i'll tell you this, man -- i'll tell you this. i don't know what's going to happen, man, but i want to have my kicks before the whole [bleep] house goes up in flames. all right? all right! depp: in september 1968, the doors tour europe. ♪ ow! ♪ ooh, man! ♪ uh! ow! ♪ you've got it, baby!

♪ yeah! depp: they're a big hit, even after jim swallows a chunk of hash in amsterdam and collapses unconscious onstage. the band plays the gig without him, with ray doing all the singing. afterwards, jim stays in london with pam, hanging out with poet michael mcclure. the three of them go off on a drinking binge. when jim resurfaces, he discovers the doors have licensed "light my fire" for use in a car commercial. robby, ray, and john explain they've tried to find him for days. they thought the commercial was unique and felt jim would agree. but jim does not agree. the car commercial and $75,000 evaporate. the alcohol takes a personal toll.

in the beginning, as ray pulls the band together, he and jim are very close. jim had always welcomed robby, offering advice like giving each lyric a double meaning. his drinking drives a wedge between them. john and jim used to drive around, fantasizing about being in a famous rock and roll band. the alcohol pushes them apart as well. they all see jim struggle, but have no idea how to help him. and now, the doors start playing larger arenas. the first is the hollywood bowl, in 1968. jim seems a little off. john thinks he's dropped acid right before the show.

robby feels jim was distracted by mick jagger sitting in the front row with pam on his lap. they sell out madison square garden and the l.a. forum., and in early 1969, their manager, bill siddons, books their first extensive u.s. tour. they'll hit 19 cities. their first gig is in miami. the band arrives early, minus morrison. he's had a fight with pam and missed his plane. he misses another flight hanging out in the airport bar and shows up 20 minutes late. man: ladies and gentlemen, the doors! [ crowd cheers ] depp: the mood inside the converted airplane hangar is already tense. the promoter has pulled out all the seats so he could sell another 2,000 tickets. as the band takes the stage,

jim seems preoccupied. the week before, the living theatre had performed in los angeles. their manifesto is radically political -- change can only come from a rejection of all rules. jim goes to every performance. he once called the doors "erotic politicians," but he confesses to the group's director that though he has the ear of a generation, he feels he's never had anything to say. he chooses this moment to change that. morrison: yeah! now listen here. i ain't talking about no revolution. and i'm not talking about no demonstration. i'm talking about having a good time. i'm talking about love. love, love, love, love,

love, love, love, grab your... [bleep] friend and love him. come on! hey, listen, i'm lonely. i need some love, you all. come on. ♪ i need some good-time loving, sweetheart ♪ ♪ love me ♪ come on depp: someone throws a gallon of orange paint at the band. morrison: you're all a bunch of [bleep] idiots! you're all a bunch of slaves, letting people tell you what you're gonna do! how long are you going to let them push you around? maybe you love it! maybe you love getting your face stuck in the [bleep]! come on! what are you going to do about it? what are you going to do about it?

depp: there's a rush at the stage. [ crowd screaming ] morrison: now, listen, anybody that wants to come up here and join us and do some dancing, have some fun, just get on up here. depp: a friend of jim's walks out and hands him a lamb. morrison: i'd [bleep] her, but she's too young. [ crowd cheers ] depp: a woman pours a bottle of champagne over morrison. he takes off his wet shirt, urging everyone to join him. shirts, pants, bras, and underwear sail through the air. but there's only one song they want to hear. [ crowd chanting ] "light my fire!" "light my fire!" "light my fire!" depp: morrison gets angry. "you came to see something else, didn't you?" "all right, here's my [bleep]." morrison: now, we're not going to leave until we all get our rocks off. depp: ray yells out for someone to stop him. manzarek: go on, someone's going to get hurt. depp: the stage starts to collapse.

[ crowd screams ] depp: robby and john jump off. manzarek keeps playing. jim is thrown into the audience by a security guard. less than an hour after it started, the concert is over. the doors play fragments of only four songs. the next day, the entire band flies to jamaica for a vacation. unknown to them, something strange is happening back in miami. the doors are out to make their own scene. it was a bad scene, and like i say, it was completely unwarranted, uncalled for, on all parts. it didn't seem like actual entertainment

that we expected to see. it seemed like very many people were under the influence of drugs. we have to do something about this. this is real disgusting. my children, when i grow up and i have children, do i want them in an environment like this? i mean, is this progress, or are we decaying in a way? we have taken out two warrants for jim morrison. one of them is for indecent exposure. the other is for the use of obscene languages during his performance at dinner key saturday night. we have been delayed on issuing these warrants because we were waiting, hoping to get pictures that were taken during the performance. depp: jim's hit with one felony and three misdemeanors, but it's the felony charge that is the most disturbing. it claims that jim did "lewdly and lasciviously "expose his penis, place his hands upon his penis, "and shake it, and did simulate the acts of masturbation upon himself and oral copulation upon another."

although many pictures were taken during the concert, none show morrison exposing himself. but for proof of oral copulation, the prosecution offers this photo as evidence. the charges take the doors by surprise. over a hundred cops had been at the concert. none had attempted to stop morrison. to john, the only thing they were guilty of was a lousy show. woman: i especially thank my fellow citizens who join me... depp: but a wave of conservatism is sweeping the country. woman: for over five months, our community has been subjected -- depp: decency rallies are held, specifically targeting the doors. woman: the people of dade county have said, "enough, enough, enough." depp: even the rock and roll press turns against them. man: ...to break its contract and cancel two concerts of the doors. depp: radio stations stop playing the doors' music. man: ...performances would be obnoxious.

depp: and one by one, every remaining city on the doors' first major tour gets canceled. finally, on april 4, 1969, jim morrison surrenders to the fbi. the trial starts in august. ray, robby, and john testify in jim's defense. all of them deny seeing jim expose himself. man: jim, you're facing 3 1/2 years in state prison for the miami incident. the scope of this trial goes way beyond rock and roll. it's really about the first amendment. what we're testing down there is the issue of artistic freedom of expression. depp: but the prosecutor, terrence mcwilliams, seems preoccupied with sex. he keeps returning to the oral copulation charge. jim explains he was down on his knees simply to admire robby's intricate finger work. mcwilliams scoffs, saying jim must have seen robby

perform this solo hundreds of times. jim replies, "well, robby gets better and better all the time." although a comedy of errors, the trial is no joke. on october 30, 1969, morrison is found guilty of profanity and indecent exposure. man: jim, you have anything to say? depp: judge murray goodman sentences jim to four months of hard labor in the dade county jail. [ gavel slams ] the doors' attorney quickly files an appeal, but the uncertainty of its outcome throws the doors into an uneasy state of limbo. morrison takes it the hardest. it's more than just fear of spending time in a deep-southern jail.